Optus launches iPhone 3G prices in full at last – good value?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 03 July 2008 12:31

Your IT - Mobility

The plans are called "Turbo Caps" and the first starts out at $30, which gives you $30 of MyCredit, and $110 MyBonus, $30 of MyTime money for a “total value” of $170.

As with all the caps below, once you run out of “MyCredit” money, in this case $30 worth, you’ll need to recharge before you can continue using any of your remaining MyBonus or MyTime money, and all credits expire within 30 days.

No data usage is included in this cap at all, although from the information above you’ll receive unlimited browsing until August 31.

The second pre-paid plan is the $40 Turbo Cap, which gives you $40 of MyCredit, $180 MyBonus, $40 of MyTime money and 50MB of included data for a total value of $260.

Third is the $50 Turbo Cap. Here you get 500MB of data, a $50 MyCredit, a $270 MyBonus, $50 of MyTime Money for a total value of $370.

Fourth we get to the $70 cap, with $70 of MyCredit, a $510 MyBonus, $70 of MyTime money and a larger 700MB of data.

The fifth is the $100 cap, with $100 MyCredit, an $800 MyBonus, $100 of MyTime money and a 1GB data cap for a total value of $1000.

Want to unlock the phone before a 6 month window is over? It will cost $80, although if you recharge your iPhone with $80 worth of credit they'll unlock it for you, too, if you ask.

Pre-paid customers will receive free Wi-Fi access at Optus Wi-Fi hotspots when you are in an area or store that has them installed.

What the heck is MyCredit, MyBonus and MyTime?

MyCredit can be used for voice calls, SMS, voicemail, premium SMS & content, Zoo Content, International Roaming and video calling.

MyBonus time can only be used for voice calls, SMS and voicemail.

MyTime lets you nominate 5 other Optus landline or mobile numbers that you can call 24x7, you simply need to let Optus know what those 5 other Optus numbers are.

So, now you know these details, what are the post-paid caps?

All the cap plans are the minimum monthly spend - i.e. go on the $49 cap and your minimum payment to Optus that month is $49.

For post-paid plans there’s a $19, $49, $59, $79, $89, $149 and a $179 cap, on top of which you make a payment for the 8 or 16GB iPhone, although the higher plans see no monthly payment for the iPhone needed.

How in heaven’s name are these caps broken down?! Continued on page 3.